There are many different kinds of abnormal heart rhythms, some of which can be treated by defibrillation therapy (“shockable rhythms”) and some which cannot (non-shockable rhythms”). For example, most ECG rhythms that produce significant cardiac output are considered non-shockable (examples include normal sinus rhythms, certain bradycardias, and sinus tachycardias). There are also several abnormal ECG rhythms that do not result in significant cardiac output but are still considered non-shockable, since defibrillation treatment is usually ineffective under these conditions. Examples of these non-shockable rhythms include asystole, electromechanical disassociation (EMD) and other pulseless electrical activity (PEA). Although a patient cannot remain alive with these non-viable, non-shockable rhythms, applying shocks will not help convert the rhythm. The primary examples of shockable rhythms, for which the caregiver should perform defibrillation, include ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, and ventricular flutter.
Resuscitation treatments for patients suffering from cardiac arrest generally include clearing and opening the patient's airway, providing rescue breathing for the patient, and applying chest compressions to provide blood flow to the victim's heart, brain and other vital organs. If the patient has a shockable heart rhythm, resuscitation also may include defibrillation therapy. The term basic life support (BLS) involves all the following elements: initial assessment; airway maintenance; expired air ventilation (rescue breathing); and chest compression. When all three (airway breathing, and circulation, including chest compressions) are combined, the term cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is used.
After using a defibrillator to apply one or more shocks to a patient who has a shockable ECG rhythm, the patient may nevertheless remain unconscious, in a shockable or non-shockable, perfusing or non-perfusing rhythm. If a non-perfusing rhythm is present, the caregiver may then resort to performing CPR for a period of time in order to provide continuing blood flow and oxygen to the patient's heart, brain and other vital organs. If a shockable rhythm continues to exist or develops during the delivery of CPR, further defibrillation attempts may be undertaken following this period of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. As long as the patient remains unconscious and without effective circulation, the caregiver can alternate between use of the defibrillator (for analyzing the electrical rhythm and possibly applying a shock) and performing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). CPR generally involves a repeating pattern of five or fifteen chest compressions followed by a pause during which two rescue breaths are given.
It has recently been recognized that good chest compressions during CPR is essential to saving more victims of cardiac arrest (Circulation. 2005:111:428-434). In the cited study, researchers found that in 36.9% of the total number of segments, compression rates were less than 80 compressions per minute (cpm), and 21.7% had rates of less than 70 cpm. The compression rate recommended by the American Heart Association in their guidelines is greater than 100 cpm. In the study, higher chest compression rates were significantly correlated with initial return of spontaneous circulation (mean chest compression rates for initial survivors and non-survivors, 90±17 and 79±18 cpm, respectively; P=0.0033). Further, this study was performed using well-trained rescuers, including nurses and physicians, indicating that the problem of poor compression rates is widespread.
Many studies have reported that the discontinuation of chest compressions, such as is commonly done for ECG analysis, can significantly reduce the recovery rate of spontaneous circulation and 24-hour survival rate. These studies include “Adverse effects of interrupting precordial compression during cardiopulmonary resuscitation” by Sato et al. (Critical Care Medicine, Volume 25(5), May 1997, pp 733-736); “Adverse Outcomes of Interrupted Precordial Compression During Automated Defibrillation” by Yu el al. (Circulation, 2002); and “Predicting Outcome of Defibrillation by Spectral Characterization and Nonparametric Classification of Ventricular Fibrillation in Patients With Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest” by Eftestøl et al. (Circulation, 2002).
Because of safety issues with delivery of a high voltage defibrillation shocks with voltages of 1000-2000 volts, rescuers are taught to cease chest compressions and remove their hands from the victim's chest before initiating the defibrillation shock. U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,963 describes the potential beneficial effect of synchronizing the defibrillation shock with the chest compression cycle of a mechanical chest compressor. The patent specifically teaches that the beneficial effect occurs only when the defibrillation current is applied to the patient's heart only during the systolic portion of the compression cycle of the compressor. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,626,618 and 7,186,225 similarly discuss the potential beneficial effects synchronizing the defibrillation shock timing to the systolic portion of the compression cycle postulating that the reduced heart chamber volume during systole improves the current distribution during the shock. However, in spite of the ready availability of defibrillators and mechanical chest compression devices for nearly three decades, the beneficial effect posed by the prior art has remained hypothetical.
In the context of automatic, mechanical compression systems, it has long been recognized that there are beneficial effects of synchronizing cardiac compression and ventilation cycles to the cardiac cycle. M. R. Pinsky, “Hemodynamic effects of cardiac cycle-specific increases in intrathoracic pressure”, Journal of Applied Physiology (Volume 60(2), pages 604-612, February 1986).